Life begins at age 90

Harman, 92, gave a keynote speech entitled "Life begins at age 90." Perhaps we should forget his words: my longevity stems from my love for life. The first thing many people wake up to in the morning is how to get through this day. This is not an exciting start. I think that I should wake up in the morning and believe that every day is the best day of my life.

One dollar, less than the price tag of Newsweek. Harman, along with the magazine, has the debt behind it. According to reports, Newsweek’s total loss in the past three years was as high as $44 million, and in 2019 this figure could rise to $70 million.

American electronic equipment giant Sidney Harman has just passed his 92nd birthday. Just two days ago, he sent himself such a perhaps the most cost-effective birthday present. In the face of huge losses, Harman, who is full of silver hair and suits, is very calm. When attending the staff meeting, he said that his goal was not to make money, but to break even by 2019. He is willing to retain most of his employees and keep the style of journalism that Zhou has always insisted on.

This message has mixed the old readers: the high-quality publications with 77 years of history have been preserved, but will such a good view be just a "flowerless day"?

The theme of a speech by Harman at the University of Southern California in 2008 may answer the above concerns: "Life begins at age 90."

Where to go?

Harman’s age is 15 years older than this publication. He compared Newsweek to the "national treasure". He said that he is a businessman with experience and insight, "has a basic respect for the role of journalism", and he will be "news." Weekly brings "vigor and new guidelines."

He promised not only to continue publishing magazines, but also to continue to operate its website, retaining most of its old employees. When the new owner appeared at the staff meeting, he lowered his microphone stand because he was not tall enough. He joked: "This is the last thing I want to 'cut'."

However, the situation faced by Harman is indeed not optimistic. First of all, in a sense, Harman’s Newsweek is isolated. How to make this debt-rich magazine achieve balance of payments is the first question he should consider.

Second, in the United States, it is an indisputable fact that paper media has shrunk dramatically, especially in magazines. Many well-known magazines have only kept the online version because they can't make ends meet. Harman insisted on retaining the paper edition of Newsweek, and there are indeed adventurous elements against the times.

Moreover, Harman has almost no media experience. Can Harman continue to write his business myth in the field of electronic equipment in the journalism industry? In his life at the age of 90, how much time does it take to complete the re-creation of a news legend?

Pioneer of high fidelity technology

However, looking at Harman's previous resume, perhaps he should have confidence in him.

Harman graduated from the City University of New York at the age of 21, and at the age of 35, he worked with his friend Caton as an engineer at the then top-notch PA equipment company.

Harman was keenly aware of the market potential of the budding high-fidelity audio equipment, so he resigned with Caton and developed the world's first high-fidelity home audio system with a starting fund of $10,000.

Harman recalled that the device was extremely shocking to his friends: "They are almost shaking and listening to Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. No one has ever enjoyed such an effect in their own home." Harman and Card In a number of companies that developed high-fidelity audio systems, the company's annual sales revenue reached $136 million and annual profit reached $9 million.

The leadership strategy that Harman believes in is freedom. His staff can decide on their own time to work, especially encouraging everyone to take the initiative to contribute ideas for the company's development. In the book "Managing Your Own Things," Harman believes that leaders should become "the catalyst of the enterprise, the conscience of the enterprise, and the motivator of the employee's fighting spirit."

"In the morning, you should jump up and get up."

After retiring in 2008, Harman served as a professor of economics management at the University of Southern California, often to lectures in various departments. He once joked with the young student of the full house: "If you look forward to seeing a bad old man, I am sorry that I let you down."

Harman’s speech is often whispered and quoted. The students who have heard his speech say that the Einstein, Shakespeare, and Foster's maxims are “like these great men whispering in his ear.” The deep accumulation of literature comes from Harman’s reading habits for decades. . He said: "Reading is the taste of life," is the best relaxation and one of the secrets of longevity.

Another long-lived secret of Harman is golf. He said that golf can play 18 holes and sometimes even 23 holes in 2008. He has been exercising every day for the past 50 years. At the age of 90, he published an anthology about the sentiment of life, "The Old Man Who Plays Golf," which tells the story of applying the experience of playing to life and business.

Of course, Harman's longevity is not unrelated to heredity. He said that his family had long-lived genes, and that the mother left the world prematurely at the age of 98. However, the warm and full life attitude should be the biggest magic weapon for the 92-year-old man: "My longevity stems from my love for life. The first thing many people wake up to in the morning is how to get through this day. It’s not an exciting start. I think I should get up in the morning and believe that every day is the best day of my life."